This page explains how to encounter and catch Koraidon, one of the Legendary Pokémon in Scarlet & Violet.

Koraidon is a Paradox Pokémon that’s loosely related to the common Cyclizar.

Near the beginning of your journey, you will encounter and befriend Koraidon and even ride all across Paldea on it. But you cannot use Koraidon for battling–at least not until the end.

How to Battle with Koraidon¶

To enable Koraidon’s battle form, you must complete the Area Zero story, available after completing all three story paths. During the final battle, you will finally get to use Koraidon in its full, frankly overpowered glory.

After the credits roll, you can use Koraidon to fight by going to the Pokémon menu, selecting Koraidon at the very bottom of the list and choosing “Yes”. This will move Koraidon into your Pokémon party. You can only do this if you have space in your party.

Where to Find Another Koraidon¶

Now you might be thinking a few things. Like is there an easier way to use Koraidon, without having to swap between ride and battle forms all the time?

Plus, if you want to complete the Pokédex, you need to trade for someone else’s Miraidon–but how’s that possible if they can’t trade it, like you can’t trade your Koraidon?

Well, if you finished the Area Zero story, don’t forget there was a second Koraidon!

You can find the second Koraidon at the bottom level of Area Zero, at the end of a slope leading to the back of the Zero Lab. Interact with Koraidon to battle it. Of course, save beforehand, just in case!

How to Catch the Other Koraidon¶

When the fight begins, Koraidon’s Orichalcum Pulse will trigger, creating harsh sunlight. The sunlight will boost Koraidon’s Attack stat.

Earlier, you fought Koraidon, but you had your own Koraidon and the fight was heavily scripted. So keep in mind that Koraidon has exceptional stats, since it’s a restricted Legendary (so strong it’s banned from typical tournaments until near the end). All of its stats are good to great, with its Attack and Speed excelling. Its Special Attack is so-so though.

Move-wise, it can use Collision Course to deal massive Fighting STAB damage (boosted if super-effective), Flamethrower to take advantage of the harsh sunlight, Giga Impact for big damage but requires charging afterwards and Bulk Up to boost its Attack and Defense stats.

Since it’s a Fighting and Dragon type, Koraidon resists:

• Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Bug, Rock and Dark.

Conversely, it’s weak to:

• Ice, Flying, Psychic, Dragon and Fairy.

Koraidon, being a Legendary, has a very low catch rate, so you should inflict a status ailment to improve your chances. Paralyze is the lazy, ahem, efficient choice, since it doesn’t disappear–you can apply it with Nuzzle, Thunder Wave, etc. Meanwhile, Sleep has better odds, but only lasts a few turns–you can apply it with Hypnosis, Yawn, Spore, etc.

When dealing damage, try to avoid Fairy attacks, as they deal 4x damage. If you’re Level 70 to 80, regular super-effective attacks are fine, so long as they’re not super strong (so not 100+ base power ones). As Koraidon’s HP begins to fall, you could swap to False Swipe (obtained from Jacq, your homeroom teacher) to avoid accidentally KOing it.

Koraidon has no way to heal itself, so once you’ve reduced it to low or 1 HP, you can relax a bit. However, Koraidon can inflict heavy damage with its moves, so don’t hesitate to use healing items yourself! If you’re taking big damage, stacking X Defense can help reduce the impact. Critical hits will ignore Defense boosts, but hopefully it doesn’t happen often!

When it’s time to start throwing Poké Balls, Ultra Balls are great by default. Because you’ve already got a Koraidon, Repeat Balls are better. If more than 10 turns have passed, Timer Balls are the best choice. If Koraidon is asleep, Dream Balls are also great, but those are hard to come by.

Recommended Pokémon for Catching Koraidon¶

Of course, you can opt to use your own Koraidon. It worked well for the story fight, so it should work well here, right? Only if you bothered to Level Up your ride Koraidon though, because it starts at Level 68 and this one is 72. If it’s Level 72+, you could use it for a bit to rough up its rival. Try relearning Breaking Swipe, which lowers the foe’s Attack, and Drain Punch, which heals yourself.

Some excellent common Pokémon that you can use are Mimikyu and, if you picked the croc at the start, Skeledirge. These are both immune to Collision Course and Giga Impact, while Skeledirge also resists Flamethrower. That said, Flamethrower isn’t too scary, when harsh sunlight ends that is. Actually, most Ghost types should work, so long as they’re not weak to Flamethrower and reasonably bulky.